Stargazer and photographer Bashar Alaeddin took this image in the south of Jordan on April 14, 2012, and shared it with SPACE.com this month.

"[This was] my first ever proper, sharp image of a star-trail," Alaeddin told SPACE.com in an email. "I was trying to aim for the North Star, but was a bit off as you can see, it's to the top left of the image."

Alaeddin used a Canon 7D camera with a 17-55mm f/2.8 lens, settings set at 17mm, and f/5, ISO 320 for 722 seconds. The natural rotation of the Earth during the long exposure makes it appear as if a star is leaving a trail in the sky.

Star trails can be shot by opening the shutter at a time exposure of 30 seconds and taking several images. These can be later stacked together to make a composite photo. In this image, the trails appear to stop at a line in the horizon because they fall behind the clouds.

Editor's note:If you have an amazing night sky you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.